Official Luthiers Forum!

I am refinishing a guitar and am curious if stripping the finish on the headstock will ruin the logo. It looks like a decal under the finish, but I'm not positive. What do you all think? How can I refinish the guitar without ruining the Gurian "G" on the headstock?

logo picture

Thanks!

John

Looks like it to me...

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Me too. But other than a little crazing of the lacquer, it looks fine. Why refinish it? Why not leave it as is? Even if you do the entire guitar, you could leave the headstock alone... or if the crazing is a problem, could try to re-amalgamate the finish without stripping?
Just ideas---from a guy who hates to refinish!

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Looks like it to me too. I agree with Steve...why do the Headstock if it doesn't need it...just more work. Frank Ford has a good article on curing the crazing. It might be just the solution.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

John I would just leave it as is. If mess up the decal or inlay there would devalue it more than the usual of refinishing looks ok to me anyway

Hey guys, thanks for all the great info. I think I will take your advice and not finish the headtock, however I will need to do the neck due to a lot of bad dings/scratches from capo use over the last 30 years. How would you recommend the transition from old finish to new finish?

Thanks!

John

You could do just the rear of the head, leaving the sides and face alone. If you are brave, you could also do the sides of the head, but then you'll have some careful fidgeting at that corner. Are you taking this all the way down to bare wood? Restaining? Whatever, make a good mask for the face of the peghead that you can take on / off for protection.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Hi Steve, thanks!

I have the guitar completely stripped down to bear wood except the neck and headstock. I think you have a good idea, it will be much easier to conceal a transition along the headstock edge since the light will never hit those two surfaces the same. I'll just have to be real careful stripping the old lacquer or whatever it is (it has a yellow/gold tint to it). Now that it's stripped, I'm going to try and draw up some plans before I finish it. This old Gurian is still the easiest playing acoustic I've ever played to this day.

Cheers!

John

John, when the building bug first hit me, one of the prime influences was a Gurian. Different than factory guitars...better...hand-built...inspiring. You've got a little bit of history in your hands. It sounds like you're treating her well. Give us some pix when you're done. Better yet, perhaps some "in progress" shots.

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com